Up to 1,000 fans will be allowed into Serie A games in northern Italy for the opening weekend of the new season.
The Italian top flight played behind closed doors for the remainder of last season, as they completed the final rounds of fixtures. With the 2020/21 campaign kicking off on Saturday, the first phase of fans’ return to the stadium is set to begin.
for the last time
Emilia Romagna learns an event game with the public.
Imola #SkySport #EmiliaRomagna #SerieA #F1 #Coronavirus #Covid19 Thousands of Serie A fans, 13,147 for F1 pic.twitter.com/pfgLcL9nzF
— skysport (@SkySport) September 18, 2020
According to Sky Sport in Italy, 1,000 fans will be able to attend Serie A games in the northern region of Emilia-Romagna. Fans will be allowed to watch Napoli’s trip to Parma and Sassuolo’s game against Cagliari, both on Sunday.
He added that several COVID-19 regulations will inevitably be enforced, including social distancing, mandatory wearing of face masks and hand sanitizing stations around the stadium.
Napoli will be hoping to make a strong start when they face Parma, as they look to secure a top-four finish and return to the Champions League. This will be Gennaro Gatso’s first full season in charge of the Partenopei, who arrived in Naples last December.
Parma Calcio and SSC Napoli in Serie A action last season. Gabriel Maltanti/Getty Images
Sassuolo look to build on their strong season which saw them finish eighth, their best position for four years. Cagliari, on the other hand, finished the campaign in 14th place, and are still looking for their first top-half finish since 2009.
Serie A was suspended entirely in March when Italy became the European epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic, with nearly every league and competition following. The league resumed three months later, seeing Juventus win their 36th Scudetto.
All Serie A games have been played behind closed doors since March, when the Italian government ordered all sporting events to be played without fans. The last game played with fans in attendance was Roma’s thrilling 4–3 win over Cagliari, six and a half months ago on 1 March.
Serie A has been played behind closed doors for six months. / Sylvia Lore/Getty Images
Italy was one of the worst affected countries in Europe, once recording the highest death toll in the world. Emilia-Romagna, where the first fixture will be held with fans, has seen the second-highest number of deaths in the country, behind only the starting center of Lombardy.
The new Serie A campaign kicks off on Saturday with Fiorentina hosting Torino behind closed doors. Rome travel to Verona later that evening, before the remaining matches are played on Sunday and Monday.
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